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I've correctly tested an ESP32-WROVER MicroController and an ADXL355 sensor. Both these devices are on evaluation boards and the fact is that they are very handy: the MCU include an USB female, a battery case with a recharging system from the USB, a switch for turning on/off the system and most common protection systems for the hardware. The evaluation board of the device includes recommended protections from the datasheet.

If I was to implement all these nice features it would take me years and I don't think I could accommodate them in a smaller space.

That said, now I want to reproduce this system and maybe also sell this: is there something wrong with keeping on using these evaluation boards?

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    \$\begingroup\$ How many do you expect to sell? Can you buy sufficient evaluation boards? For low volumes (like less than a hundred boards) there should be no issue. But as volumes increase, what happens if you cannot source the evaluation board anymore? For high volume the evaluation boards are likely to be too expensive as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bimpelrekkie
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 8:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Bimpelrekkie You are totally right: I forgot to mention the money! The cost of the evaluation board is totally acceptable, especially considering the time for mimic their features. I don't know right now how many products I'll need to produce, the order of magnitude of next year will not exceed hundreds. Yes, supply evaluation boards is indeed an issue \$\endgroup\$
    – AlekseyFedorovich
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 8:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ You might need to consider requirements about environment, like operating ranges of temperature or power supply. If all of your requirements are met by the evaluation boards, go ahead. \$\endgroup\$
    – the busybee
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 8:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ Whats wrong with just copying the evaluation board as is? Especially because it comes with schematics. \$\endgroup\$
    – joojaa
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 8:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ @joojaa that it takes a lot of time to find components, order them, print the pcb, solder them properly, test if it works, .... \$\endgroup\$
    – AlekseyFedorovich
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 10:11

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One obvious problem is that evaluation boards and other demo products intended solely for the purpose of professional R&D are explicitly except from all manner of conformance requirements, pretty much world-wide.

So it is quite unlikely that the manufacturer will make any guarantees about EMC, radio and similar. How do you plan to claim conformance without any such guarantees? Enlisting a test house to verify this will be vastly more expensive than anything you mention. Self-certification for CE marking etc would be highly questionable if you include some 3rd party device that you have no clue about how it performs EMC- and radio-wise.

In this specific case, it would seem that the manufacturer might make some guarantees though. https://www.espressif.com/en/support/documents/certificates. Check out if the documents apply to the countries where you plan to sell the product.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for the precious answer \$\endgroup\$
    – AlekseyFedorovich
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 13:35

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